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BETA
Beta (pronounced bee-tah in the UK) was a heavyweight robot that was entered in Season 5.0 of BattleBots, built by John Reid of Team Hurtz to replace KillerHurtz after Season 4.0. The robot was built especially for BattleBots, armored in poly-carbonate with stainless steel corner panels and armed with a large geared hammer that was so powerful it needed incredibly powerful magnets to keep it from unstabilizing whenever it hit something. Unfortunately, the magnets pulled the floor panels up, meaning Beta could not move under its own power in the BattleBots test arena. Team Hurtz was going to remedy this and enter Beta in Season 6.0, but the show was cancelled after Season 5.0. Beta returned to BattleBots for Season 1 of the ABC reboot, with Reid being assisted by Grant Cooper and David Moulds of Team RoboChallenge. Multiple changes had been made to Beta in order to bring it up-to-date, including a new hammer arm which was bent so it could strike opponents even when mid-air and a suction fan system to replace the magnets. Unfortunately, despite multiple attempts to get it working, they were forced to forfeit their first match. This was due to American Airlines losing a 25 kg bag of important parts for Beta on its way to San Francisco. This bag had Beta's custom weapon controller, wiring harness, armor mounting, wheel bearings, chargers and more in it. The bag was eventually found eight weeks later. Finally in Season 2, they got the bot in the BattleBox and did very well, defeating Lucky by a close unanimous decision in the round of 48, Overhaul by an easy unanimous decision in the round of 32 and Nightmare (a robot Beta's predecessor defeated in the very first BattleBots event) by a knockout, but losing to eventual champion Tombstone (a robot Beta was supposed to fight in the first round of ABC Season 1) in the quarterfinals by a unanimous decision. In spite of its success, Beta did not return for Seasons 3 & 4 due to King of Bots, an event in China, taking place at the same time as Battlebots, as John Reid helped out his old rival of Gabriel Stroud with his flipper bot. Stroud would later come to help out DUCK! for Season 4. After Robot Wars had ended, Beta was taken to a barbecue and placed it on a friend's lawn by John who tied it to 2 foot long rods that were driven into the ground. When John gave a demonstration of Beta's power, the force of its hammer pulled the pegs right out of the ground and Beta jumped in the air. Beta also participated in the pilot episode of the 2016 series of Robot Wars as Basher. However, it could not compete in the main competition due to its exclusivity contract with BattleBots, as well as the fact that Reid had already entered it with Beta's predecessor, Terrorhurtz. Reid stated the origin story for the name "Beta" in an interview with Andrea Mitchell in 2016 after his breakout success with the bot in the second season of the revival. "The official name was beater at first, but due to the British accent it came out as 'bee-tuh' so my wife Catherine would ask me, you know, 'what's got your Nickers in a bind, John?' And I'd say 'ehhh working on my beater' but said it 'working on my beta' and the name just stuck." Robot History Season 5.0 Beta was meant to fight Bender in its first ever match, but failed to move under its own power and thus forfeited the fight. Bender won by default and Beta was eliminated from the tournament. ABC Season 1 Beta returned to BattleBots for the 2015 reboot, and was slated to battle Tombstone. However, due to the circumstances noted above, they were unable to get running and had to forfeit. They were replaced in the competition by alternate Counter Revolution. ABC Season 2 Beta's first match in Season 2 was against Lucky. Before getting into the BattleBox, Beta fell off the trolley and landed on the entrance ramp. Luckily, this caused no damage to Beta and he was still moving before the match began. When the battle began, its first hit managed to break off a protective panel from the top of Lucky. Lucky fought back strongly, flipping Beta over a few times, but Beta righted himself each time. Beta eventually landed a hit on Lucky's flipping arm, causing it to lock upright until Beta hit it back into position. The two robots continued to attack each other until the battle ended, to which Beta won a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision. This win put Beta to the round of 32 with its No.9 seeding, where it faced the No.24 seed Overhaul. Both robots moved around trying to avoid the other's weapon. Beta managed to get a hit on Overhaul's weapon but no damage was done. Overhaul eventually found itself cornered and took a few blows from Beta's hammer. After a few more blows from Beta's hammer, Overhaul stopped moving as the impacts destroyed the power switch for the drive as well as the battery box. Overhaul was counted out and the time ran out before the countdown was finished. Beta won on a unanimous 3-0 judge's decision and advanced to the round of 16, where it faced the No.25 seed Nightmare, a bot Beta's predecessor beat in the very first BattleBots event. Things started out rather poorly for Beta as Nightmare was quickly getting the upper hand by taking out Beta's weapon as well as doing other damage. However, Beta found an opening and manged to get Nightmare on top and paraded it around the BattleBox. Nightmare got off but Beta got underneath again and this time toppled Nightmare with only 13 seconds left. Nightmare was counted out and Beta won by KO at 3:00. This win put Beta to the quarterfinals, where it finally faced the No.1 seed Tombstone after forfeiting its first match in Season 1. Unlike the other robots that faced Tombstone before, from the very start of the match, Beta had the advantage. Beta came right at Tombstone, and both robots collided in the center, sending Tombstone flying out of control, effectively fending off the No.1 seed using its wedge. Despite Tombstone's blade sending shrapnel flying, Beta took very little damage compared to all other robots that faced Tombstone, and continued to control the match. beta pushed Tombstone around and attacked Tombstone's top with its hammer after pinning Tombstone against the wall. However, Beta managed to flip Tombstone by trying to pin it blade-first sending Tombstone flying onto its back, allowing Tombstone's blade to hit higher on Beta. Beta continued to attack even after its weapon mount took damage from Tombstone's blade, leaving Beta with no active weapon. Beta got underneath Tombstone again but both robots remained motionless as the clock had been inadvertently reset (though any mention of this was left out of the TV broadcast and made to look like it was just a stalemate in the final seconds). The fight went to the judges who ruled unanimously in favor of Tombstone, eliminating Beta from the tournament. This marked the first time Beta lost without forfeiting. Wins/Losses *Wins: 3 *Losses: 3 Beta S5.0.jpg|Beta backstage during BattleBots Season 5.0. Hangingaround.jpg|Beta hanging off a 1/8" steel sheet with Dominic standing on top. Beta_2015.jpg|Beta in the arena at a live Robot Wars event in 2015. betainBattleBox BB2016.jpg|Beta in the BattleBox before fighting Tombstone in Season 1. Beeta.png|Beta backstage during BattleBots 2015. BetaBrickCon2019.jpg|The lego version seen at the 2019 BrickCon. Faruq Tauheed Introductions "I hope you brought your aspirin, because you’re about to get hammered. From the United Kingdom, BETA!" "In this symphony of misery, you'd better B-sharp or this bot will make you B-flat! It's nothing but treble! It's BETA!" "If it were a fraternity, it would be Phi Slamma Hamma! When it rushes the Box, you'll be housed! It's BETA!" "If it were a disease, it would be called die-a-beat-es, and sugar, it's time for your next shot. It's BETA!" Merchandise Any appearance by Beta in merchandise are listed below *Beta/PushStrike *Beta/RC Trivia *Team Hurtz are the only British team to attend the first seven seasons of Battlebots. Had Beta been able to compete without the problems in its two previous appearances, then it would have been the only British robot to have competed in each season. *In the pits of Season 5.0, Beta hung off a 1/8" steel sheet with Dominic (who weighed 80 kg) standing on the base of Beta (who weighed 100 kg) without falling off, showing how powerful the magnets of Beta were. *Both times Beta forfeited a match, Beta was meant to fight an opponent equipped with a horizontally-mounted spinning weapon. *Beta also entered a Robot Wars live event after the first season of ABC's BattleBots reboot had ended. *Beta is the first robot in the ABC Reboot to lose to the same robot twice (although it forfeited the first time to Tombstone.) *A lego version fought at the 2019 BrickCon. Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:BattleBots Competitors Category:British Robots Category:Robots that have Forfeited a Battle Category:Robots armed with Hammers/Axes Category:Robots that are still fighting today Category:Robot Wars Competitors Category:Robots that fought on television Category:Robots with equal amounts of Losses and Wins Category:Crowd favorites Category:Heavyweight Quarterfinalists Category:Robots that could self-right Category:Robots made into toys Category:Honorable Mentions in the Combat Robot Hall Of Fame